According to an article published in the most recent edition of Rolling Stone magazine, the U.S. Army deployed a "psychological operations" team to convince individual members of Congress to support increased military spending and troop deployments. According to Lt. Colonel Michael Holmes,the goal of psy-ops (as it is called in the military) is "to play with people's head's, to get the enemy to behave the way we want them to behave." For Lt. Colonel Holmes, the problem was that your fellow citizens should not be considered your enemies. "I'm prohibited from doing that to our own people. When you ask me to try to use these skills on senators and congressman, you're crossing a line." Heading up this operation was Lt. General William Caldwell, who is in charge of training Afghan troops. The targeted senators included John McCain, Joe Lieberman, Jack Reed, Al Franken, and Carl Levin as well as Admiral Mike Mullen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
What's interesting about this breaking story is that it shows the darker side of rhetoric at work. Psy-ops call for manipulation of the audience through propaganda, preying on doubts or fears, and threatening messages. We tend to cast a blind eye toward such tactics in war zones because it is yet another instrument that will aid our troops in goal that is set before them. However, U.S. law prohibits the military from using psy-ops on Americans. A veteran member of a psy-ops team told Rolling Stone, "Everyone in the psy-ops, intel... know you're not supposed to target Americans. It's what you learn on day one." While strong-arming and bargaining is commonplace in both Houses of Congress, the use of extreme style of manipulation is quite concerning. Is the War in Afghanistan in such dire straits that the leading commanders would endorse hostile tactics to convince Congress to increase military spending? Serving in the U.S. Armed Forces is an honorable charge but such disparaging news casts a poor reflection on those who lead our noble troops in war.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41753749/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Google Parisian Love Commercial
Today in Rhetoric and Civic Life, we watched several speeches and brainstormed various analytical words. And as usual, we watched an example of rhetoric at work. But today's example is unique in that I instantly recognized it even though I had seen only once before. It was the Google commercial that aired during Super Bowl XLIV. The advertisement is only 52 seconds but in that short span of time, the commercial manages to create something memorable.
The very first moment of the commercial is a piano key played to the pulse of a flashing cursor. It seems so subtle yet it has an incredible effect. The simultaneous flash of the cursor and the piano note makes an audio and visual connection. It causes the viewer to unintentionally focus on the music because of the initial steady pulse. So as the viewer is listening to the commercial, the music begins to the affect how you view the commercial. The music starts of slowly but still keeps its initial steady beat. Gradually the music builds toward a climax and then tapers off as the commercial concludes. The visuals of the commercial are intensified by the music as the search bar seems to be telling a story. Each entry identifies with stages of a love story that build to marriage. By effectively controlling the viewer/listener's ear, Google makes the commercial more memorable.
Visuals omitted from the commercial also serve a purpose. Throughout the entire commercial, the only indicators of a love story occurring are the search bar entries and the voices in the commercial background. There is no depiction of a young student wooing a fair, French girl. Instead, the relationship between these two lovers is mostly left to the imagination of the viewer. It allows the viewer to insert themselves into the story making it more personal and memorable at the same time. (I remember the first time I saw the commercial, I said to myself, "Sign me up for studying in France!") Though at first it seems cliche, the universal nature of the story is what makes it so identifiable with the viewer.
The very first moment of the commercial is a piano key played to the pulse of a flashing cursor. It seems so subtle yet it has an incredible effect. The simultaneous flash of the cursor and the piano note makes an audio and visual connection. It causes the viewer to unintentionally focus on the music because of the initial steady pulse. So as the viewer is listening to the commercial, the music begins to the affect how you view the commercial. The music starts of slowly but still keeps its initial steady beat. Gradually the music builds toward a climax and then tapers off as the commercial concludes. The visuals of the commercial are intensified by the music as the search bar seems to be telling a story. Each entry identifies with stages of a love story that build to marriage. By effectively controlling the viewer/listener's ear, Google makes the commercial more memorable.
Visuals omitted from the commercial also serve a purpose. Throughout the entire commercial, the only indicators of a love story occurring are the search bar entries and the voices in the commercial background. There is no depiction of a young student wooing a fair, French girl. Instead, the relationship between these two lovers is mostly left to the imagination of the viewer. It allows the viewer to insert themselves into the story making it more personal and memorable at the same time. (I remember the first time I saw the commercial, I said to myself, "Sign me up for studying in France!") Though at first it seems cliche, the universal nature of the story is what makes it so identifiable with the viewer.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Obama's Visit to PSU
Yesterday President Barack Obama spoke about his initiatives in the field of clean energy research before a crowd of students, faculty, and community members in Penn State's Rec Hall. This was a part of his visit to the university to observe ongoing projects related to energy-efficiency.
President Obama's speech was entirely focused on how to improve the manner in which the United States develops and uses energy. However, despite such seemingly dull topic, President Obama was effectively able to captivate his audience. His speech began with talk about the Super Bowl to flatter a concentrated Steeler community found in Pennsylvania. The crowd immediately warmed up to this appeal and applause was heard throughout the arena. President Obama also appealed the pathos of the audience in another manner by complimenting Coach Joe Paterno on his incredible 400+ career wins. By referring to these football teams during his speech, President Obama connected with his audience early on which would cause them to listen more intently to his proposed agenda.
Aside from appealing to passions such as football teams, President Obama encouraged everyone in the audience to take control of their work and take pride in what you do as a student or researcher. He referred several times to winning the future but then explained that such change could only be achieved through hard work and determination. President Obama called for students to be proud of their potential and to work to achieve because the world is becoming very competitive now. His words of encouragement that young people take control of their own destinies and work to change the world for the better received positive reception because of the challenge issued to work to improve our country and our way of life.
President Obama is a master of captivating his audience. He speaks with authority but he also speaks with humility. Whenever he opens his mouth to say anything, you can be sure that everyone will listen to what our President has to say.
President Obama's speech was entirely focused on how to improve the manner in which the United States develops and uses energy. However, despite such seemingly dull topic, President Obama was effectively able to captivate his audience. His speech began with talk about the Super Bowl to flatter a concentrated Steeler community found in Pennsylvania. The crowd immediately warmed up to this appeal and applause was heard throughout the arena. President Obama also appealed the pathos of the audience in another manner by complimenting Coach Joe Paterno on his incredible 400+ career wins. By referring to these football teams during his speech, President Obama connected with his audience early on which would cause them to listen more intently to his proposed agenda.
Aside from appealing to passions such as football teams, President Obama encouraged everyone in the audience to take control of their work and take pride in what you do as a student or researcher. He referred several times to winning the future but then explained that such change could only be achieved through hard work and determination. President Obama called for students to be proud of their potential and to work to achieve because the world is becoming very competitive now. His words of encouragement that young people take control of their own destinies and work to change the world for the better received positive reception because of the challenge issued to work to improve our country and our way of life.
President Obama is a master of captivating his audience. He speaks with authority but he also speaks with humility. Whenever he opens his mouth to say anything, you can be sure that everyone will listen to what our President has to say.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)